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Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

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We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside

September 16, 2020 by Doug Ramsey

As Rifftides readers have undoubtedly noticed, it has been a long time since we posted. We are creating a new post in hopes  that it will open the way to resumption of frequent reports as part of the artsjournal.com mission to keep you up to date on jazz and other matters. Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s stunning new trio album for the Sunnyside label is one that we have been hoping for weeks to call to your attention. Zeitlin's interaction with bassist Buster Williams and drummer Matt Wilson makes … [Read more...]

Recent Listening: The New David Friesen Trio CD

November 18, 2019 by Doug Ramsey

David Friesen Circle 3 Trio: Interaction (Origin) Among the dozens of recent releases that deserve serious attention, a few will get it. Among those those receiving it here is bassist David Friesen's new album.  From the Portland, Oregon, sinecure in which he thrives when he's not touring the world, bassist Friesen has been performing at home and abroad with his Circle 3 Trio. They are Friesen on bass and Charlie Doggett or Reuben Bradley playing drums. They live in Portland, Oregon, for many … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation: Dominic Miller

March 10, 2019 by Doug Ramsey

Dominic Miller Absinthe (ECM) Guitarist and composer Miller delivers power and subtlety in equal measure. Abetted by producer Manfred Eicher’s canny guidance and ECM’s flawless sound and studio presence, Miller draws on inspiration from painters of France’s impressionist period. His liner essay emphasizes the importance to his musical conception of works by Cezanne, Renoir, Lautrec, Monet and other impressionist painters. He credits, “the American imagination and vision itself,” for initially … [Read more...]

Recent Listening: Dave Young And Friends

February 19, 2019 by Doug Ramsey

Dave Young, Lotus Blossom (Modica Music) Young, the bassist praised by Oscar Peterson for his “harmonic simpatico and unerring sense of time” when he was a member of Peterson’s trio, leads seven gifted fellow Canadians. His beautifully recorded bass is the underpinning of a relaxed session in which his swing is a force even during quiet moments. That is apparent beginning in the classic Billy Strayhorn composition that gives the album its title. With Renee Rosnes at the piano and Terry Clarke … [Read more...]

Recent Listening: Jazz Is Of The World

January 20, 2019 by Doug Ramsey

Paolo Fresu, Richard Galliano, Jan Lundgren, Mare Nostrum III (ACT) This third outing by Mare Nostrum continues the international trio’s close collaboration in a series of albums that has enjoyed considerable success. With three exceptions, the compositions in this installment are by the members of Mare Nostrum. It opens with one the French accordionist Galliano titled “”Blues sur Seine” for the storied river that flows through Paris. Among the pleasures of the album, which in toto is a … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation: Thelonious Monk’s Works In Full

January 14, 2019 by Doug Ramsey

Kimbrough, Robinson, Reid, Drummond: Monk’s Dreams(Sunnyside) The subtitle of this invaluable 6-CD set is The Complete Compositions Of Thelonious Sphere Monk. By complete, Sunnyside means that the box contains six CDs with 70 tunes that Monk wrote beginning in the early years when his music was generally assumed to be an eccentric offshoot of bebop, to the time of his death in 1982. By the end of his career, Monk was venerated and adored in music circles. He has become even more respected … [Read more...]

Recent Listening: Harry Vetro’s Northern Ranger

November 27, 2018 by Doug Ramsey

Recent Listening: Harry Vetro’s Northern Ranger A generation of Canadian musicians is coming to prominence in their youth and making substantial impressions. One is drummer Harry Vetro. After he was graduated from the University of Toronto Jazz Program, the 23-year-old spent much of last year exploring his country as it celebrated its 150th year of nationhood. He visited what he calls Canada’s six indigenous cultural areas—Arctic, Subarctic, Northwest Coast, Plateau, Plains and Eastern … [Read more...]

Weekend Listening Tip: Maria Schneider & The SRJO

November 23, 2018 by Doug Ramsey

Jim Wilke tells us that his Jazz Northwest broadcast on Sunday will present Maria Schneider conducting the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra. The program comes from his recording of the second of Ms. Schneider’s two concerts with the SRJO early this month. Her work has brought her five Grammy Awards, victories in many readers and critics polls and, recently, the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Fellowship, the United States’ highest award for jazz artists. Jim recorded the second of … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation, A Day Late: Atlantis Quartet

November 20, 2018 by Doug Ramsey

Atlantis Quartet, Hello Human (Shifting Paradigm Records) If you visit the Shifting Paradigm Records website in search of Hello Human, you may be startled to see the legend, “Name Your Price,” near a box with a dollar sign and an empty space waiting to be filled. In fairness, the offer has a notation that reads, “USD ($8 or more).” After a dozen years together, more may indeed be welcome to the members of this tightly knit quartet from Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Their intricacy and interwoven … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation: Bing Crosby, Continued

October 29, 2018 by Doug Ramsey

Gary Giddins, Bing Crosby Swinging On A Star: The War Years 1940-1946 (Little, Brown) Seventeen years following his initial installment, Gary Giddins continues the story of the man who absorbed and internalized early jazz values in the 1920s and became the most important popular singer in the world. Crosby retained that distinction until the expanding dominance of Frank Sinatra in the 1950s and then the advent of rock and roll. Crosby was a movie star whose early light-hearted screen work … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation (Unavoidably Delayed)

October 16, 2018 by Doug Ramsey

Wayne Shorter, Emanon (Blue Note) Although Wayne Shorter’s saxophone artistry and that of his quartet need no enhancement, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra shares the first disc of this three-CD collection. As always, the Orpheus is impressive for the precision of its musicianship, but the combination plods compared with the exhilaration of the second and third discs by the Shorter quartet alone. Recorded in a London concert, Shorter, pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation: John Scofield Quartet

October 8, 2018 by Doug Ramsey

Monday Recommendation, John Scofield, Combo 66 (Verve) “I Can’t Dance,” guitarist Scofield proclaims by way of his new album’s opening track. It may be the rare listener, however, who won’t be moved by his quartet’s rhythmic blandishments. It is difficult not to boogie around the room—or at least groove in place—as Scofield, pianist and organist Gerald Clayton, bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Bill Stewart expand on nine Scofield compositions that merge down-home verve with the … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation: Rob Bargad And Others

October 1, 2018 by Doug Ramsey

Monday Recommendation: Reunion 7Tet, (Rob Bargad & Others), A Field Of You (Barnette) Once a year, a band of musicians who go back a long way together gather for a two-night gig at Smalls jazz club in New York’s Greenwich Village. Nominally under the leadership of pianist Rob Bargad, on their last visit they recorded an album at the New Jersey studio called Trading 8s. Bargad explains that they chose the studio for two reasons: its rebuilt 1954 Steinway B grand piano and the recording … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation: Miller And Staaf

September 24, 2018 by Doug Ramsey

Allison Miller and Carmen Staaf, Science Fair (Sunnyside) Pianist Staaf and drummer Miller pool their experience and talents in an album that also has superior performances by three guest artists with impressive track records of their own. Firmly established in the New York City jazz milieu, Miller and Staaf welcome bassist Matt Penman, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens. The tune list encompasses several compositions by each of the co-leaders. Miller’s opening … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation: Emil Viklický, Humoresque

September 10, 2018 by Doug Ramsey

Monday Recommendation, Emil Viklicky, Humoresque (NCML) Last spring Czech pianist Emil Viklický’ traveled from Prague to visit relatives in the American Midwest. Never one to forego a playing opportunity, while he was there he gave a concert at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one of several he has performed there for enthusiastic partisan audiences. With Viklický was bassist Petr Dvorský, a prominent member of the Czech jazz community since his 1990 … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation: Early Monk

September 3, 2018 by Doug Ramsey

Thelonious Monk: The Complete Prestige Recordings Any Monk collection without the Prestige dates is missing the pianist’s early partnership with Art Blakey, who is considered by many musicians and critics to have been Monk’s ideal drummer. As mentioned in the Rifftides Labor Day 2018 posting of their recording of Monk’s composition “Work,” this set captures the two collaborating in the Monk staples “Little Rootie Tootie,” “Bye-Ya,” and “Monk’s Dream.” The box also contains classic Monk … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation: Luciana Souza

August 27, 2018 by Doug Ramsey

Monday Recommendation: Luciana Souza, The Book Of Longing (Sunnyside) Returning to recording, Luciana Souza is inspired by poetry. The Book Of Longing finds her drawing inspiration from poets of two centuries and singing three new songs of her own. Bassist Scott Colley and Brazilian guitarist Chico Pinheiro accompany her, enhancing the album’s moods, using counterpoint as commentary. Both solo with distinction. Colley is notably effective in Ms. Souza’s “These Things,” which has a nifty … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation: The TJO At 20

August 20, 2018 by Doug Ramsey

Toronto Jazz Orchestra, 20, (TJO) Something drifting down from Canada that is far less disturbing than the smoke you saw in yesterday’s post is an album celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Toronto Jazz Orchestra. Arrangements by the TJO’s director, Josh Grossman, include an extended four-part suite in tribute to one of his inspirations, the 95-year-old bandleader and arranger Phil Nimmons. Solo high points in the suite are by the incisive clarinetist Paul Metcalfe and pianist Carissa … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation: Karrin Allyson

August 13, 2018 by Doug Ramsey

Karrin Allyson, Some Of That Sunshine (kasrecords) Ms. Allyson’s songwriting ability surfaced early in her career. In Some Of That Sunshine, it is on full display; she wrote all 13 songs in the album. With her superb rhythm section, two star guest artists—and on one R&B-ish track a spirited vocal group—it sounds as if she had the time of her life recording them. The songs range from the sentimental (“Home,” “You Don’t Care”) to wry humor that references the me-too movement (“Big … [Read more...]

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Doug Ramsey

Doug is a recipient of the lifetime achievement award of the Jazz Journalists Association. He lives in the Pacific Northwest, where he settled following a career in print and broadcast journalism in cities including New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Antonio, Cleveland and Washington, DC. His writing about jazz has paralleled his life in journalism... [Read More]

Rifftides

A winner of the Blog Of The Year award of the international Jazz Journalists Association. Rifftides is founded on Doug's conviction that musicians and listeners who embrace and understand jazz have interests that run deep, wide and beyond jazz. Music is its principal concern, but the blog reaches past... Read More...

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Doug’s Books

Doug's most recent book is a novel, Poodie James. Previously, he published Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond. He is also the author of Jazz Matters: Reflections on the Music and Some of its Makers. He contributed to The Oxford Companion To Jazz and co-edited Journalism Ethics: Why Change? He is at work on another novel in which, as in Poodie James, music is incidental.

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Doug’s Picks

We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside

As Rifftides readers have undoubtedly noticed, it has been a long time since we posted. We are creating a new post in hopes  that it will open the way to resumption of frequent reports as part of the artsjournal.com mission to keep you up to date on jazz and other matters. Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s stunning new trio album […]

Recent Listening: The New David Friesen Trio CD

David Friesen Circle 3 Trio: Interaction (Origin) Among the dozens of recent releases that deserve serious attention, a few will get it. Among those those receiving it here is bassist David Friesen’s new album.  From the Portland, Oregon, sinecure in which he thrives when he’s not touring the world, bassist Friesen has been performing at […]

Monday Recommendation: Dominic Miller

Dominic Miller Absinthe (ECM) Guitarist and composer Miller delivers power and subtlety in equal measure. Abetted by producer Manfred Eicher’s canny guidance and ECM’s flawless sound and studio presence, Miller draws on inspiration from painters of France’s impressionist period. His liner essay emphasizes the importance to his musical conception of works by Cezanne, Renoir, Lautrec, […]

Recent Listening: Dave Young And Friends

Dave Young, Lotus Blossom (Modica Music) Young, the bassist praised by Oscar Peterson for his “harmonic simpatico and unerring sense of time” when he was a member of Peterson’s trio, leads seven gifted fellow Canadians. His beautifully recorded bass is the underpinning of a relaxed session in which his swing is a force even during […]

Recent Listening: Jazz Is Of The World

Paolo Fresu, Richard Galliano, Jan Lundgren, Mare Nostrum III (ACT) This third outing by Mare Nostrum continues the international trio’s close collaboration in a series of albums that has enjoyed considerable success. With three exceptions, the compositions in this installment are by the members of Mare Nostrum. It opens with one the French accordionist Galliano […]

Monday Recommendation: Thelonious Monk’s Works In Full

Kimbrough, Robinson, Reid, Drummond: Monk’s Dreams(Sunnyside) The subtitle of this invaluable 6-CD set is The Complete Compositions Of Thelonious Sphere Monk. By complete, Sunnyside means that the box contains six CDs with 70 tunes that Monk wrote beginning in the early years when his music was generally assumed to be an eccentric offshoot of bebop, […]

More Doug's Picks

Blogroll

All About Jazz
JerryJazzMusician
Carol Sloane: SloaneView
Jazz Beyond Jazz: Howard Mandel
The Gig: Nate Chinen
Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong
Don Heckman: The International Review Of Music
Ted Panken: Today is The Question
George Colligan: jazztruth
Brilliant Corners
Jazz Music Blog: Tom Reney
Brubeck Institute
Darcy James Argue
Jazz Profiles: Steve Cerra
Notes On Jazz: Ralph Miriello
Bob Porter: Jazz Etc.
be.jazz
Marc Myers: Jazz Wax
Night Lights
Jason Crane:The Jazz Session
JazzCorner
I Witness
ArtistShare
Jazzportraits
John Robert Brown
Night After Night
Do The Math/The Bad Plus
Prague Jazz
Russian Jazz
Jazz Quotes
Jazz History Online
Lubricity

Personal Jazz Sites
Chris Albertson: Stomp Off
Armin Buettner: Crownpropeller’s Blog
Cyber Jazz Today, John Birchard
Dick Carr’s Big Bands, Ballads & Blues
Donald Clarke’s Music Box
Noal Cohen’s Jazz History
Bill Crow
Easy Does It: Fernando Ortiz de Urbana
Bill Evans Web Pages
Dave Frishberg
Ronan Guilfoyle: Mostly Music
Bill Kirchner
Mike Longo
Jan Lundgren (Friends of)
Willard Jenkins/The Independent Ear
Ken Joslin: Jazz Paintings
Bruno Leicht
Earl MacDonald
Books and CDs: Bill Reed
Marvin Stamm

Tarik Townsend: It’s A Raggy Waltz
Steve Wallace: Jazz, Baseball, Life and Other Ephemera
Jim Wilke’s Jazz Northwest
Jessica Williams

Other Culture Blogs
Terry Teachout
DevraDoWrite
Alex Ross: The Rest Is Noise
On An Overgrown Path

Journalism
PressThink: Jay Rosen
Second Draft, Tim Porter
Poynter Online

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